Society for the Study of Cultural Heritage (SSCH) is an organization responsible for the identification, promotion, preservation and creating awareness for African cultural heritage through national and international cultural heritage tourism for African student’s (High schools, colleges and university undergraduates) as well as among the continental Africa and African in the diasporas.

It has been observed that in some few years to come and if adequate measure is not taking African Cultural Heritage may go into extinction because of the fast adoption and adaptation of Africans to the ways of life of the western culture as well as problems associated with the African cultural heritage. It is a common known fact in many African societies today that, the western ways of life such as codes of manners, dresses, language, religion, rituals, customs, norms of behaviour such as law and morality, and systems of belief etc, has taking over the generality of life’s in the African societies, most especially among the young generation. This is unconnected with the fact that so many young African children are trained and brought up in the western ways of life which make them to believe that is the best way of life, whereas an African man will always be one, an example of this is the African in the diasporas whom are still regarded as Africans.

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It is a common known fact that Africans, anywhere in the world have so many things in common (mostly the experience of colonialisation) such as the manner in which we do so many things, therefore giving us that strong connectivity, believe and concern that we all have some common ancestor’s and our language can be trace to one another. For instance, Yoruba language spoken in Nigeria among the Yoruba ethnic group can be trace to countries such as Republic of Congo, Republic of Benin and likewise Hausa language (also in Nigeria speaking among the hausa-fulani ethnic group in the northern part) can be found in many other countries in Africa such as Ghana, Mali, Sudan, Chad, Gambia, Niger Republic and many others. There are also same tribes in many Africa countries such as the Fulani tribes that are in Nigeria can also be found in countries like Niger Republic, Sudan, Somalia, Mali just to mention a few. 

It is also a common known fact that, so many years after independent, the African elites have refused to go back to their culture and that is why we cannot have true development because development is about the people, while culture is the people and except the culture of the people is understood there cannot be a synergy between the people and development therefore, to have true perspective and for true development we must go back to our culture that is, to our past because the past is not dead and as a matter of fact according to Forkner,” the past is not past, the past is in the present”. In other words, the present is just a mere reconstruction of the past but unfortunately, the African elites are ever ready to go only in the direction where the west has been and this is a clear example of African minds inability to force itself out of the bondage and gridlock of western imperialism. Therefore, to attain real indigenous development in Africa and in the actual sense, Africans must have true reflection of their cultural state of mind reflected in their daily life’s because this will enhance their attainment of home grown and true development.

The Longest and highest Canopy Walk In West Africa

According to Ifeyinwa Annastasia Mbakogu (PhD) of the university of Ibadan in Nigeria,” it can be deduced that contact with and acquisition of western ideas have contributed to Africa’s cultural identity crisis. Not surprisingly, a continent that so haplessly neglects its own development paradigms to welcome alien outlooks will experience such progressive disintegration that only judiciously applied medication and therapy can repair. Nevertheless, some may argue whether Africa would ordinarily have had a faster development without the destabilizing interference of western colonisation’.

In addition, feyinwa stated that “A leadership interested in the technological, political and economic advancement or development of its nation should never disregard the role of culture. A nation consciously or unconsciously allowing for a deriding of its cultural identity would ultimately lose some of the respect it would have received from the outside world. Implausibly, the western world has immense respect for the cultural heritage, values and ideals of the African nations. If not, how do we explain the disappearance of our ancient and priceless works of arts to foreign museums and persuasive art collectors? For once, we need to be true to ourselves. We as Africans are the ones more interested in imbibing all that is western. This is evident in our quest for western clothing, ideals and values thereby causing all that our ancestors handed down from one generation to the next to experience a slow dearth”.

Furthermore, any economic development initiative should not disregard the role of culture. As argued by Ifeyinwa Annastasia Mbakogu (PhD) that “A search for and protection of cultural heritage is the start point of any meaningful attempt at African cultural liberation and development. An African development that should begin with an identification of Africa’s conditions, formulated by Africans for Africans. It must also be enunciated that for as long as Africans remain armchair recipient of western culture without learning to do things targeted at their awakening, the development challenge will persistently remain an illusion”.

“The Birth of Society for the Study of Cultural Heritage (SSCH)”

There is no doubt that despite the low level of development in Africa, Africans have contributed a lot to the development of the entire world in terms of human power, socio-economic and political development, without much argument starting from the beginning of Africa contact with the western world we all had histories on how that era started and ended, to the beginning of slave trades, a trade which is the core factor to the early economic advancement of the industrialized and economically influential countries of the western world and northern America today, and to the present day in the Africa continent and roles Africans have played and are still playing in the world today, yet the level of development in most Africa countries as at this 21^st century does not commensurate with their effort and contribution  to the outside world when comparing the level of development in Africa countries. This is unconnected with the fact that our cultural heritage values are pushed to the background, whereas about 70% - 80% of resources (both man power and natural resources) taking from Africa contribute extensively to the development and advancement of the western and northern American countries.

Promoting artistic expression within a particular ethnic community, working for the preservation and promotion of the traditions, values, and lifestyles of different cultural groups, organize activities, events and tour program that promote cultural exchange locally and internationally and encourage understanding and respect for different cultural heritages among the youthful members of the group as well as the mainstream population, offering cultural educational programmes, including but not limited to language instruction. Preserving and promoting the culture and history of nationalities or racial or ethnic group.

Playing unique roles, a role rooted in connections with neighborhoods and cities, ethnic groups and immigrants, rural-urban areas, and great communities and not just in African continent. The primary and distinguishing purpose is to bind communities together by promoting and preserving their identities, traditions, festivals and values. By providing public programs through which cultural heritage can be shared and leaders in building communication between groups and communities. Enhancing these cultural and heritage values within the municipalities, which are clearly defined territories, would reinforce their cultural dimension, and would undoubtedly upgrade the living conditions of the African populations.

The building Language and art skills together, program to serve the language and literacy needs of immigrant youth. Students work on art projects designed to utilize subject matter being taught in English classes, the soldiers of peace non-violence workshop, diversity empowerment programs that help students relate to different cultures through a combination of interactive theater, arts projects, music and dance workshops, culinary arts and fine arts exhibitions and puppetry programs and more importantly, the study of this heritage makes it possible to better understand today’s world and to better prepare for the future.

The eradication of the notion of barbaric behavior and ways of life of Africans as stipulated by non-Africans which gave less or no value to African Culture and the indirect enforcement of foreign culture on Africans and which contributed to various problems in the Africa continent, gave the impetus to the raise of our organization. However, this and many more are the reason behind the idea, development and birth of “Society for the Study of Cultural Heritage (SSCH)”.

  

                     Mission, Vision and Programmes of SSCH

Recent research suggests that the arts, culture, and the humanities are essential to communities’ quality of life, cohesiveness, and development (Ciccarelli and Copp 2001; Florida 2002; Putnam and Feldstein 2003 sited in Carole Rosenstein, 2006). These benefits have been evaluated primarily through measures of economic impact, supplemented with descriptions of the social capital–building and economic development capacities of cultural activity as well as social conflicts resolution (otherwise known as Non-violence change).

However, I and other colleagues have a great mission and vision on how Africans can recognize themselves and acknowledge the fact that they stand a better chance of creating positive impact in the Africa continent as a whole by creating awareness, identifying, preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of Africa both within the continent and beyond. Our effort and mission are to broaden and deepen the knowledge of Africans of themselves, both historically and contemporaneously, always within the context of recall and celebration.

Our tour programme is to bring back old memories (most especially the slave trade monuments) and educate many Africans both home and abroad of the important and the uniqueness of the culture of Africa and through the experience of Africa cultural heritage exposure and awareness, it will be discover that Africa is the first home of civilization and the more reason why we have to believe in ourselves and behave like a real African and to be expose to the rich important and valuable cultural heritage (such as Africa cultural festivals all over the world) of our fore-fathers for the attainment of socio-economic and political development of the Africa continent as a whole.

Our mission is also to influence and create in the mind of Africans  through our tour programs all over the world (but mostly Africa countries) the uniqueness and important of Africa cultural heritage when compare with non-Africa, so that they can stand the challenges of been Africans anywhere in the world and they can have that self-esteem to distinguish between themselves and others and tell the story of their roots in the past, present and the future of Africa in years to come and while they should be reckon with even in the most developed countries in the world. The future of Africa is bright, we believe.

Our mission also includes the identification of Africa Cultural Heritage sites and landscapes through the discovery of world archives, museum and library collections from other continents (Africa, Europe, North America and Asia), the African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes digital library con­tains in-depth visual, spatial, and research documentation of cultural heritage sites and landscapes in Africa, a number of which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These materials include thousands of digital photographs; hundreds of rare slides from early documentation projects and excava­tions; aerial, panorama, and satellite photographs of landscapes; dozens of virtual and three-dimensional models of sites and structures; unique GIS data sets for each site; rare and unpublished excavation reports, manuscripts, 18th- and 19th-century travelogues; antiquarian maps; digital site plans; and scholarly research, as well as a preliminary visual archive of African rock art.

Our tour programme has been selected to create cultural heritage awareness in order to provide values to students, scholars, and researchers in a number of disciplines, including African studies, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, art history, Diaspora studies, folklore, lit­erature, geography, history, architecture, geomatics, advanced visual and spatial technologies, historic pres­ervation, and rural - urban planning. It is also part of our mission to identify and repatriate lost African Artifacts carted away by the colonial government and scattered across various museum in Europe and North America during the Atlantic Slave trade and colonialisation era in Africa.

 

For tourists, the desire to travel is the desire, to varying degrees, to experience something unfamiliar, foreign cultures and their manifestations thus serve as important attractions. Cultural tourism in particular is a search for and a celebration of that which is unique and beautiful, representing our most valued inheritance. Culture and cultural heritage are crucial to people's identity, self-respect, and dignity. This applies to both affluent and poor societies. Tangible heritage may be an avenue through which the conscious tourist starts to grasp a basic understanding of the past and/or living culture, which has adapted to and influenced the environment the visitor, is trying to make intelligible. Provided these basic facts are understood and serve as guidelines for presentation and communication between tourists and the local population, cultural tourism has great potential to improve understanding and respect among different cultures, and in a long term perspective may be regarded as a tool for creating and preserving peace.

Potential positive impacts includes:

·         Building Africa communities cultural pride;

·         Enhancing the sense of identity of a community or region;

·         Promoting intercultural exchange;

·         Promoting increased accessibility to and sharing of cultural heritage to build pride and knowledge among youth and children in Africa;

·         Promoting Education

·         Creating social exchange programmes mostly among the young generation,

·         Encouraging revival or maintenance of traditional crafts;

·         Enhancing external support for minority groups and preservation of their culture;

·         Broadening community horizons;

·         Social conflict resolution;

·         Providing funding for site preservation and management; and

·         Enhancing local and external appreciation and support for cultural heritage.

In conclusion, the link between culture and tourism is the most visible aspect of the contribution of culture to local development 37% of the global tourism has a cultural motivation. When tourism is identified as part of an overall development strategy, the identification, protection, and enhancement of historic resources is vital for any sustainable effort. Heritage visitors stay longer, visit twice as many places, and so spend 2 1/2 times more than other visitors. Worldwide, wherever heritage tourism has been evaluated this basic tendency is observed: heritage visitors stay longer, spend more per day, and, therefore, have a significantly greater per trip economic impact. In some places cultural heritage tourism is one of the main economic contributors.

A cross Section of Lagos State University Students, Sociology Dept. and their Ghanian counter part at the Sociology Dept. University of Ghana

Manhyia Palace Museum

Some Nigerian and Ghanaian Students Posing

Statue of kwame Nkrumah, First Ghanian President

Lagos State Uni. Sociology Dept. 05/06 Sets at the Nigerian High Commission In Ghana

Students at the Parliamentary House in Ghana

Students at the University of Ghana, Psychology Dept.

Students having Fun at a Resort in Ghana

Students preparing Food in the kitchen at TF Hostel, Legon.